Improvement in cleaners for locomotive-boilers



2- Sheets-Sheet 1. u

W. TIT-COMB. Cleaner for Locomotive-Boilers. No. 216,911. Patented June 24,1879.

N-PEI'ERS, PHoTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D C 2 sheets-sheet 2 W. TIT C 0 MB.

i fg ma ner for Locomotive-Boilers.

No. 216,911. Patented June 24, 1879.

Withessem Jlttoxnay.

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N. PETERS. FHOTO-UTHQGRAPHEH, WASHINGTON D C.

FUNIT'ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WINSLOW .TITGOMB, OFWWATEBVILLE, MAINE.

lMPROVEMENT IN CLEANERS FOR LOCOMOTlVE-BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 216,911, dated J unc 24, 1879; application filed April 1, 1879. v

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that 1, WINsLoW TrrcoMB, of

'VVaterville, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaners for Locomotive-Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 represents section through 3 y of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 represents front elevation with part section through aaof Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows top view or plan with part section through 2 z of Fig. 2.

My invention consists of a device for cleaning horizontal tubular boilers, particularly those of locomotives, of the mud and sediment which collect in them, and also of the scales which form 011 the outside of the tubes.

It consists, in general terms, of a pipe extending from some point outside of the boiler, through the shell, into the smoke-arch, and opening thence, by one or more connectingpipes through the boiler-head, into the bottom of the boiler. Through these pipes are forced water .or steam, which drives the sediment back into the legs or spaces aroundthe firebox, whereit can be easily taken out. When steam is used it acts on the scales on the tubes, causing them to fall off. 7

Hitherto the operation of removing the sediment from. beneath the tubes of a locomotiveboiler has been attended with great labor, expense, and damage to the locomotive, for, since no means of access to this part of the boiler was provided, the steam-pipes and ex-' haust-nozzle had to be removed and the ends of the tubes cut off before the bottom of the boiler could be reached, and even then (this operation being deferred sometimes two or three years on account of its difficulty) great inconvenience was experienced in removing the sediment, which would often be consolidated into a compact mass, only to be effected by a chisel and hammer. Moreover, the presence of this large quantity of solid matter in the bottom of the boiler caused a'considerable loss of heating-surface. The presence of scales on the outside of the tubes has always been a welhknown source of trouble.

The design of my present invention, therefore, is to overcome these difficulties substantially in the manner and by the means I will now more in detail set out and explain.

in the locomotive shown in the drawings, A is the boiler-head; B B, the tubes; G, interior of boiler; D, opening which connects with the legs or space around the fire-box; E, the smokearch. F is ametal pipe of suitable dimensions. F F F are pipes connected with pipe F, passing through the boiler-head A, and opening into the bottom of the boiler (J. The pipe F, which, with its connecting-pipes F F F, is the subject of my invention, passes through the shell of the boiler on one side into the smoke-arch, thence around the bottom of the smoke-arch, and out at the other side, connecting at or near the bottom with one or more pipes, F F 850. The ends of the pipe F, which protrude from the shell, are to be sup plied with suitable stop-cocks or "alves to stop the pipe when not in use, and also with suitable coupling to connect with water or steam pipes, as desired.

When sediment has collected in the bottom of the boiler O, or scales have formed on the tubes B B, the boiler G is emptied, one end of the pipe F is connected with theiboiler of another locomotive, and water and steam forced through pipes F F F into the boiler-(J, blowing and washing the sediment back through the opening D into the space around the firebox, where it can be easily reached. The steam at the same time acts upon the scales on the tubes and causes them to fall oil.

Any boiler may furnish steam and water for the purpose shown, or water may be used alone by connecting the pipe F with a hose,

tached to a boiler, the expense and labor of cleaning it out in the most thorough manner are very slight, and hence boilers may be kept almost entirely clear from sediment, thus cansin g a saving of fuel and an increased efficiency of the boiler.

Having thus described my invention, what I consider new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a locomotive or other horizontal tubular boiler, the cleaner-pipe F, extending from the outside of the boiler into the smoke-arch, and

there combined with one or more pi'p'es, F F

F which open into the water-space of the boiler, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of Witnesses BORDMAN HALL; L. T. Boo'rHBY. 

